Washington - Late last night the Senate reached a quiet compromise to pass the defense authorization bill. Toward the end of the bill, the National Defense Authorization Act says that if passed, it will also apply to Americans "if we want it to." The Pentagon spending bill or Senate bill 1867 for mandatory indefinite detention under the U.S. government has passed a bipartisan Senate by a vote of 93-7, despite the disapproval of retired military officials and President Obama threatening to veto the bill if it goes through the House. The Senate's version will need to be reconciled with the House-passed measure before the congressional session ends. If both go through, Natural News reports that the passing of the bill is an "insidious plan to put in place a legal framework to end the Bill of Rights, murder protesters, and overrun America with total police state brutality." Senator Rand Paul warns of the removal of certain rights from the Constitution, such as the removal of due process. (see video below) Natural News writes the bill would allow indefinite detention of citizens accused of anti-government acts, which would apply to Occupy Wall Street protesters, journalists, bloggers and more. That section of the bill can be read here. [emphasis is mine] Read more at: The Digital JournalRead more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/315413#ixzz1fXzef0at

(2) Obama Should Veto Empire Over Republic

he political, military industrial, corporate class in Washington DC continues to re-make our constitutional republic into a powerful, unaccountable military empire. Yesterday the U.S. Senate voted 93 to 7 to pass theNational Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2012 which allows the military to operate domestically within the borders of the United States and to possibly (or most probably) detain U.S. citizens without trial. Forget that the ACLU called it "an historic threat to American citizens", this bill is so dangerous not only to our rights but to our country's security that it was criticized by the Directors of the FBI, the CIA, the National Intelligence Director and the U.S. Defense Secretary! For the first time in our history, if this Act is not vetoed, American citizens may not be guaranteed their Article III right to trial. Read more at: ReaderSupportedNews

Constitutional watchdogs interpreted the statement as a green light for the military to target American citizens right here at home as possible terrorist suspects, thus giving soldiers the right to round up and detain indefinitely any person in the U.S. who is even merely suspected of engaging in acts against the government, all without a trial, due process of law, or a jury to find them guilty or innocent.

And perhaps the most disturbing aspect of all is the portion of the bill, S 1867, that would give the President the sole authority to declare individuals as 'enemy combatants' and thus subject them to being stripped of all of their Constitutional rights, placed under military arrest, and hauled off to some unnamed facility where they will be incarcerated indefinitely--all without a warrant, without a court order, and without legal oversight. Continue at The Examiner